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Ecoscaping
Ecoscaping is a spatial planning discipline that integrates landscape architecture and environmental science to create sustainable designs or construction. The approach of Ecoscaping is holistic and strives to respect the pre-existing materials, microenvironments, and structures (backyards, cities, campuses, etc.) in sustainable land use management with ecological balance. Process Ecoscaping searches for solutions to improve the look of a property while making minimal impact on the surrounding environment, protecting biodiversity and wildlife habitats, achieving nature conservation and ecological balance. Examples of Ecoscaping techniques include: * Using natural products instead of artificial decoration * Planting trees and minimizing the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers * Creating out-buildings, decks, trellises, etc. that work in with the land. * Rainwater harvesting * Creating a self-contained water reservoir for water balance. Significance Ecoscaping ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riparian Buffer
A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a " buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality in associated streams, rivers, and lakes, thus providing environmental benefits. With the decline of many aquatic ecosystems due to agriculture, riparian buffers have become a very common conservation practice aimed at increasing water quality and reducing pollution. Benefits Riparian buffers act to intercept sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other materials in surface runoff and reduce nutrients and other pollutants in shallow subsurface water flow. They also serve to provide habitat and wildlife corridors in primarily agricultural areas. They can also be key in reducing erosion by providing stream bank stabilization. Large scale results have demonstrated that the expansion of riparian buffers through the deployment of plantati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fertilizer Tree
Fertilizer trees are used in agroforestry to improve the condition of soils used for farming. As woody legumes, they capture nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil through their roots and falling leaves. They can also bring nutrients from deep in the soil up to the surface for crops with roots that cannot reach that depth. Fertilizer trees are further useful for preventing fertilizer erosion, soil degradation and related desertification, and improving water usage for crops. ''Sesbania'', '' Gliricidia'', ''Tephrosia'', and '' Faidherbia albida'' are known as fertilizer trees. Tree lucerne or tagasaste ('' Cytisus proliferus'') is able to fix more than 587 kg. of nitrogen per hectare per year. It can increase maize (corn) yields from 1 ton per hectare per year to more than 10 tons per ha/year in areas with more than 850 mm. of rain per year or a perched water table. Tree lucerne is also used to create and maintain terra preta. Use in Africa The use of '' Faidherbia albida'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer storage and recovery, aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as the runoff is typically collected from roofs and other area surfaces for storage and subsequent reuse. Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, Drinking water, domestic use with proper treatment, and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be used for long-term storage or groundwater recharge. Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest methods of Self-supply of water and sanitation, self-supply of water for households, having been used in South Asia and other countries for many thousands of years. Civilizations such as the Romans de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecological Engineering
Ecological engineering uses ecology and engineering to predict, design, construct or restore, and manage ecosystems that integrate " human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both".W.J. Mitsch & S.E. Jorgensen (1989), "Introduction to Ecological Engineering", In: W.J. Mitsch and S.E. Jorgensen (Editors), ''Ecological Engineering: An Introduction to Ecotechnology''. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 3-12. Origins, key concepts, definitions, and applications Ecological engineering emerged as a new idea in the early 1960s, but its definition has taken several decades to refine. Its implementation is still undergoing adjustment, and its broader recognition as a new paradigm is relatively recent. Ecological engineering was introduced by Howard Odum and othersH.T. Odum et al. (1963), ''Experiments with Engineering of Marine Ecosystems'', in: ''Publication of the Institute of Marine Science of the University of Texas'', 9: 374-403. as utilizing natural energy sourc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Greening
Desert greening is the process of afforestation or revegetation of deserts for ecological restoration (biodiversity), sustainable farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life. The term "desert greening" is intended to apply to both cold and hot Desert climate, arid and Semi-arid climate, semi-arid deserts . It does not apply to ice capped or permafrost regions. It pertains to roughly 32 million square kilometres of land. Deserts span all seven continents of the Earth and make up nearly a fifth of the Earth's landmass, areas that recently have been increasing in size. As some of the deserts expand and global temperatures increase, the different methods of desert greening may provide a possible response. Planting suitable flora in deserts has a range of environmental benefits from carbon sequestration to providing habitat for Xerocole, desert fauna to generating employment opportunities to creation of habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agroforestry
Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system can produce timber and wood products, fruits, nuts, other edible plant products, edible mushrooms, medicinal plants, ornamental plants, animals and animal products, and other products from both domesticated and wild species. Agroforestry can be practiced for economic, environmental, and social benefits, and can be part of sustainable agriculture. Apart from production, benefits from agroforestry include improved farm productivity, healthier environments, reduction of risk for farmers, beauty and aesthetics, increased farm profits, reduced soil erosion, creating wildlife habitat, less pollution, managing animal waste, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure, and carbon sequestration. Agroforestry practices are especially preva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and dest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contamination
Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the sciences, the word "contamination" can take on a variety of subtle differences in meaning, whether the contaminant is a solid or a liquid, as well as the variance of environment the contaminant is found to be in. A contaminant may even be more abstract, as in the case of an unwanted energy source that may interfere with a process. The following represent examples of different types of contamination based on these and other variances. Chemical contamination In chemistry, the term "contamination" usually describes a single constituent, but in specialized fields the term can also mean chemical mixtures, even up to the level of cellular materials. All chemicals contain some level of impurity. Contamination may be recognized or not and may become a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Compaction
In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other liquid) being displaced from between the soil grains, then consolidation (soil), consolidation, not compaction, has occurred. Normally, compaction is the result of heavy machinery compressing the soil, but it can also occur due to the passage of, for example, animal feet. In soil science and agronomy, soil compaction is usually a combination of both engineering compaction and consolidation, so may occur due to a lack of water in the soil, the applied stress being internal suction due to water evaporation as well as due to passage of animal feet. Affected soils become less able to absorb rainfall, thus increasing Runoff (water), runoff and erosion. Plants have difficulty in compacted soil because the mineral grains are pressed together, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Impervious Surface
Impervious surfaces are mainly artificial structures—such as pavements (roads, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots, as well as industrial areas such as airports, ports and logistics and distribution centres, all of which use considerable paved areas) that are covered by water-resistant materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick, stone—and rooftops. Soils compacted by urban development are also highly impervious. Environmental effects Impervious surfaces are an environmental concern because their construction initiates a chain of events that modifies urban air and water resources: * The pavement materials seal the soil surface, eliminating rainwater infiltration and natural groundwater recharge. This can cause urban flooding. An article in the '' Seattle Times'' states that "while urban areas cover only 3 percent of the U.S., it is estimated that their runoff is the primary source of pollution in 13 percent of rivers, 18 percent of lakes and 32 percent of estuari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aesthetics
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , accessed on 15 September 2024. Aesthetics examines values about, and Critical thinking, critical judgments of, artistic taste and preference. It thus studies how Artist, artists imagine, create, and perform works of art, as well as how people use, enjoy, and criticize art. Aesthetics considers why people consider certain things beautiful and not others, as well as how objects of beauty and art can affect our moods and our beliefs. Aesthetics tries to find answers to what exactly is art and what makes good art. It considers what happens in our minds when we view Visual arts, visual art, listen to music, read poetry, enjoy delicious food, and engage in large artistic projects like creating and experiencing plays, fashion shows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Restoration Ecology
Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from Conservation movement, conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair already damaged ecosystems rather than take preventative measures. Ecological restoration can help to reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, support the provision of ecosystem services and support local economies. The United Nations has named 2021–2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Habitat restoration involves the deliberate rehabilitation of a specific area to reestablish a functional ecosystem. This may differ from historical baselines (the ecosystem's original condition at a particular point in time). To achieve successful habitat restoration, it is essential to understand the life cycles and interactions of species, as well as the essential elements such as food, water, nutrients, space, and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
